Why Asia?

There are two questions I continually get, why Asia and are you really going alone?  

Why Asia?  First, I love to travel and explore new, unfamiliar places.  For this, I can thank my college boyfriend who was such a controlling prick I decided to leave the country to get away.  Which lead me to Semester at Sea, the greatest thing ever (imagine 200 college students on a giant cruise ship island hopping through the south pacific for two months).   This time, however, it's not a bad boyfriend, but rather a bad real estate market.    What better time to  remove myself from the daily grind than in the midst of a total industry meltdown?   Although, sometimes I wonder if I'm actually nuts and question if one of the worst economies in ages is really the right time to risk financial stability by leaving my comfy cozy job and indulging my passion to travel?  Either way, it's irrelevant, since my mind is made up.

Getting back on track, I picked Asia because, besides loving the idea of being tall for two months, I find the raw beauty, landscape and religious diversity intriguing.  And, since I am taking 2 months off, I might was well fly as far way as possible and take advantage of the 17-hour plane flight.  Ugh, that's going to hurt.  Thank goodness for good friends and their gifts of vicodin.

Am I really going alone?  Yes.  Although frightening at first, traveling alone gives me time to reconnect with myself.  And although I have a hunch as to why this trip is tugging at me, outside of the abysmal state of the country, I'm increasingly anxious to actually find out.

Ticket Purchase

It's official.  

Although there was never any doubt in my mind I was going on this  trip, when it came time to click on the Orbitz 'purchase' button, I had a hard time pulling the trigger. I was kind of surprised by my chicken shit behavior; I had been telling friends, family and co-workers about my trip for months and had already started shopping for the perfect trip wardrobe (the perfect hiking shoes, the perfect hat, the perfect camelbak, the perfect tank tops, the perfect skirt, the perfect zip up bag, the perfect ballet flats, I assume I have made my point by now).  I think it was my perceived finality of the ticket purchase that threw me off my game.  Buying the ticket is a big step, one that makes it all real, or at least real enough that it will be a pain in the you-know-what to change my mind.   After all, I still could have made up a reason why I could no longer go to save face with friends, family and co-workers and I still could have returned my perfect vacation wardrobe.  Running through my mind right before I made the over-dramatized click was.....I am really leaving the security of my friends, family, home and job to travel approximately 20 hours to a seemingly beautiful continent where I know no one and have no idea how to communicate in any native language?  Honestly, is this a solid decision facing a declining economy? It's monsoon season and it's going to be hot.  I hate heat. Screw it.  CLICK!

The good news is, since I hit that purchase button, all my trepidation is gone and there is nothing left but excitement (likely also a result of it now being, officially, a pain in the you-know-what to cancel).